Gas tank

ABSTRACT

A motor vehicle gas tank designed to have a reserve section so that, as the gas is fully drained in the area of the gas feed means, a sufficient quantity of gas from the reserve section will be made to spill over into the feed area when the motor vehicle is braked or when the tank is otherwise tilted.

D United States Patent m1 3,552,596

[72] Inventor James E. Landon [56] References Cited N iIbAvalon Dr.,Phoenix, Ariz. 85016 UNITED STATES PATENTS V a Se 9 1968 1,616,0082/1927 Stout...; 220/22 [45.] Pafemed g *1971 2,316,116 4/1943Thompson..... 220/22 2,365,080 12/1944 Humphrey 220/5(A)UX FOREIGNPATENTS 476,774 8/1928 Germany 220/20 Primary Examiner-George E.Lowrance I 54] GAS TANK Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson 1 Claim,4 Drawing Figs. I g [52] U.S.Cl. 220/22, ABSTRACT: A motor vehicle gastank designed to have a 220/5 reserve section so that; as the gas isfully drained in the area of [51] lnt.Cl B65d 25/04, the gas feed means,a sufficient quantity of gas fromthe B65d 7/02 reserve section will bemade to spill over into the feed area [50] Field of Search 220/20, whenthe motor vehicle is braked or when the tank is otherwise tilted.

GAS TANK This invention relates generally tov gas tanks and, moreparticularly, to a motor vehicle gas tank having a reserve sectiontherein for maintaining a quantity of gas in the tank after it hasbecome fully drained. I

The motorist on the road has been plagued for many years with the hazardof exhausting his gasoline supply at the most undesirable times as at agreat distance from the gasoline pump station or during heavy orhigh-speed traffic, when the danger of slowdown or collision may result.Various techniques and devices have been therefore designed in order toalert the motorist of a low gasoline supply, or to release from agasoline supply tank a reserve quantity of gas sufficient to transportthe motor vehicle to a pumping station. Most of such devices have been,however, too cumbersome or costly for any widespread usefor the averagemotorist.

Therefore, the principal object of the present invention is to provide amotor vehicle gas tank having 'a'built-in reserve section so that as thegas feed means completely drains the tank, a sufficient quantity of gascan be made to simply spill over into the gas feed area when the motorvehicle is braked or when the reserve gasoline is otherwise made tospill over.

Another object of the instant design is to provide a gas tank of thecharacter described having no moving parts yet highly effective forwidespread economical 'use,

A further object of this invention is to provide a motorvehicle gas tankhaving an insert attached to the inside bottom wall of the tank just aftof the forwardly located gas feed means so that as the tank is fullydrained in the area of the gas feed means, a quantity of gas willremain'in the tank behind the insert and will be made to spill over intothe gas feed area upon braking of the motor vehicle or when the reservegas is otherwise made to spill over.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide a gas tankof the type mentioned which is simple in design and easy to manufacture.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of the inventionwhen considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective showing of the improved gas tank with the toppan member shown partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the gas tank of FIG. 1, shown with the toppan member shown partly broken away; and,

FIGS. 3 and 3A are sectional views taken substantially along the line3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer tolike and corresponding parts throughout the several views, there isshown in F I6. I, a gas tank according to the instant design having abottom pan member 11 and a top pan member 12, both having a-standardshape, as shown, and both having laterally extending flanges around theperiphery of each pan member as at 13 and M, respectively. The tank isformed in any conventional manner as by a series of spot wells 15, whichfasten together flanges l3, 14. A pipe 16 is secured to the top panmember 12, as shown in FIG. 2, in any conventional manner, for thepurpose of introducing gasoline into the tank 10. The showing ofgasoline is omitted from FIGS. I and 2 for the purpose of clarity. Agasoline feed means or pipe 17 is provided at the bottom wall of thebottom pan member 11, as shown, or may extend downwardly through panmember 12 and into the area 18, for the purpose of feeding the gasolineto the carburetor and combustion en gine of the motor vehicle. The tank10 is adapted to be horizontally attached to the underside of a motorvehicle in any conventional manner so that the pan members 11 and 12 areparallel to the frame member of the motor vehicle. The gas tank 10 isalso designed to be attached to the motor vehicle so that its short axisis along the line of forward travel of the motor vehicle as indicated bythe arrow F, in FIG. 2. The feed pipe 17 is located, as is usually thecase, near the forward end of the tank at an area portion 18. It shouldbe understood that An insert 19 is secured to the inside bottom wall ofthe bottom pan I], as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The top pan member 12 ispartly broken away in order to clearly show that insert 29 comprises ashallow pan member having four upstanding sides and a bottom wallwherein a vertical side wall 20 is spaced from the adjacent verticalwall of the bottom pan ill. The remaining three sidewalls of the pan 19are snugly in engagement with the remaining three walls of the bottompan member ll. It is also important to note that the vertical sidewall20 extends transversely across the entire width of the bottom pan 11 andis slightly inclined toward feed pipe 17 in a forward direction.

Turning now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, the gas tank is shown after ithas been fully drained through the gas feed pipe 17. All the gas in thearea 18 of the tank is shown expended so that the gas gauge means willnow register empty and the carburetor will no'longer receive gas fromthe tank. The motor vehicle will now come to a stop except that, throughthe use of the instant design, a sufiicient quantity of gasoline can bemade to feed into the pipe 17 in a manner hereinafter described.

The shallow pan 19 with its vertical sidewall 20 extending betweenopposite walls along the entire width of the bottom pan 11, will retaina quantity of gasoline as at 21, within the tank as a reserve. Thevertical wall 20 of the insert 19 is preferably less than the verticalheight of bottom pan H, but, of course, can be of any desired heightsuitable for the amountof reserve gas intended for the tank. While thevehicle is coasting after it has run out of gas, as when area 18 becomesdry, the motorist simply applies his brakes abruptly so that the reservequantity of gasoline 21 is caused to spill over the wall the crosssection and overall shape of the gas tank can be of 20 and into the area18 as shown by the arrow 22 in FIG. 3A of the drawings. In this way, theengine can be once again started since the feed pipe 17 will again beginto feed gasoline to the engine carburetor. Of course, should themotorist first sense that the gas capacity is low after viewing his gasgauge, or after the engine begins to starve for lack of sufficient gas,he will simply depress his brake pedal several times, sufficientlyabrupt, so that the above-described spillover is made to take place. Inthis way, the motorist is able to continue his journey, at least untilhe reaches the nearest gasoline pump station.

Referring again to FIGS. l and 2 of the drawings, it can be seen thatinsert 19 is provided with a plurality of vertical separators extendingin the direction of forward travel of the motor vehicle. The purpose ofthe separators is to enhance the spillover of the gasoline into the area18 while the car is being braked. Also, these separators act to maintainthe insert 19 substantially full of reserve gasoline while the motorvehicle may be tilting from side to side during the near-empty gas tankcondition. Of course, these vertical separators can be, if desired, aplurality of corrugations running fore and aft of the tank andconstructed of one piece with the insert 19 bottom wall. Also, any otherdesign or type of construction can be employed with these separators solong as they do not depart from the teaching as above'describedv Inaddition, it should be recognized that if the motorist happens to cometo a complete stop without having the opportunity to pump his brakes, asaforedescribed, he can merely bounce his motor vehicle manually enoughto cause an adequate spillover into the area 18 of the tank.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that an improved motor vehicle gastank has been designed which reduces, in a simple manner, the hazard ofrunning out of gas and possibly creating a dangerous situation for othermotorists. The shallow pan 19, which can be inserted before assembly ofthe pans 11 and 12, proves to be economical for widespread use, yet iseasy to install and simple to manufacture. No moving parts or auxiliarytanks or any of the other prior art complex devices are needed for theoperation of the instant design. Because inclined wall 20 actuallyenhances the ability of the gasoline to be transferred from insert 19into area 18 simply upon braking of the motor vehicle, other types oftransfer means are not necessary.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention arepossible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

lclaim:

1. A gas tank of the type adapted to be horizontally attached to theunderside of a motor vehicle, and having, a bottom dishshaped, upwardlyopening pan member, a top, dish-shaped, downwardly opening pan member,flange means along the peripheral edges of each said pan member,fastening means on said flange means securing said pan member togetherin open face-to-face relation, means on said top pan member forintroducing gasoline into the tank, gasoline feed means on the tank forfeeding the gasoline to the carburetor and combustion engine of themotor vehicle, said feed means being located near the tanks forward endin the forward direction of travel of the vehicle, the improvementcomprising:

an insert comprising a shallow pan secured to the inside bottom wall ofsaid bottom pan member, a short distance to the rear of said feed means,said shallow pan and said bottom pan member each being substantiallyrectangular and each having four substantially vertical sidewalls, threeof said shallow pan sidewalls having substantially the same outsidecontour as the inside contour of said bottom pan member sidewalls, saidthree pan member sidewalls snugly embracing said three shallow pansidewalls;

a plurality of horizontally spaced, vertical separators prothe remainingone of said four shallow pan sidewalls extending transversely across theentire width of said bottom pan a slight distance from the remaining oneof said bottom pan member sidewalls, and being inclined toward said feedmeans in a forward direction, whereby, as the gasoline is expended fromthe tank through said feed means below the height of said insertvertical sidewall, a quantity of gasoline will remain in the tank behindsaid remaining one of said shallow pan sidewalls even though gasoline iscompletely drained from the tank forward end so that, upon sufficientforward movement, during the braking action of the motor vehicle, of thegasoline remaining behind said remaining one of said shallow pansidewalls spillover into the tank forward end will take place forfeeding into said feed means, said separators serving to maintain aquantity of gasoline behind said sidewall during side-by-side movementof the motor vehicle, said separators being of a height substantiallyequal to the height of said remaining one of said shallow pan sidewalls,and each of said separators being perpendicular to said remaining one ofsaid shallow pan sidewalls.

1. A gas tank of the type adapted to be horizontally attached to theunderside of a motor vehicle, and having, a bottom dishshaped, upwardlyopening pan member, a top, dish-shaped, downwardly opening pan member,flange means along the peripheral edges of each said pan member,fastening means on said flange means securing said pan member togetherin open face-to-face relation, means on said top pan member forintroducing gasoline into the tank, gasoline feed means on the tank forfeeding the gasoline to the carburetor and combustion engine of themotor vehicle, said feed means being located near the tank''s forwardend in the forward direction of travel of the vehicle, the improvementcomprising: an insert comprising a shallow pan secured to the insidebottom wall of said bottom pan member, a short distance to the rear ofsaid feed means, said shallow pan and said bottom pan member each beingsubstantially rectangular and each having four substantially verticalsidewalls, three of said shallow pan sidewalls having substantially thesame outside contour as the inside contour of said bottom pan membersidewalls, said three pan member sidewalls snugly embracing said threeshallow pan sidewalls; a plurality of horizontally spaced, verticalseparators provided within said insert extending in the direction offorward motor vehicle travel substantially across the entire length ofsaid insert; the remaining one of said four shallow pan sidewallsextending transversely across the entire width of said bottom pan aslight distance from the remaining one of said bottom pan membersidewalls, and being inclined toward said feed means in a forwarddirection, whereby, as the gasoline is expended from the tank throughsaid feed means below the height of said insert vertical sidewall, aquantity of gasoline will remain in the tank behind said remaining oneof said shallow pan sidewalls even though gasoline is completely drainedfrom the tank forward end so that, upon sufficient forward movement,during the braking action of the motor vehicle, of the gasolineremaining behind said remaining one of said shallow pan sidewallsspillover into the tank forward end will take place for feeding intosaid feed means, said separators serving to maintain a quantity ofgasoline behind said sidewall during side-by-side movement of the motorvehicle, said separators being of a height substantially equal to theheight of said remaining one of said shallow pan sidewalls, and each ofsaid separators being perpendicular to said remaining one of saidshallow pan sidewalls.